Cities and Towns Advanced
15 Minute Cities
Step 1: Introduce the idea of how cities have changed over the years. Ask students if they have visited any 'futuristic' cities before. Introduce words like futuristic, infrastructure, sustainable, etc.
Step 2: Introduce the article. Have your students read aloud and go through the vocabulary.
Step 3: Show them the video. This will give the students a better idea of what the city looks like.
Step 4: Let the students discuss the discussion questions and elicit answers from them after they are done.
Step 5: Have the students complete the vocabulary worksheet before or after the reading. This will depend on teacher preferences.
1. Do you have to commute long distances to go to work, to grocery stores, parks, or hospitals? How do you travel to these places?
2. Is there a lot of traffic or pollution in your neighbourhood? How so?
3. What is the infrastructure like in your neighbourhood, city, country? What does your government need to build to make these place better?
15 Minute Cities
Do you hate having to commute long distances for work? Do you live far away from stores, parks, or essential services? Then you might be in favour of living in a 15-minute city. What is a 15-minute city you might ask? It’s a new concept of reinventing what it means to live in a self-sufficient neighbourhood. Try to think about living in your neighbourhood where you can access essential services and all the necessary things you need within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from your home. This idea promotes a shift away from having to drive long distances to the places you need to, and instead is planned around reducing traffic congestion, pollution, and the reliance on fossil fuels. In a 15-minute city, you won’t be able to drive through the streets as you normally would, you would rather walk and cycle in the open streets. Residents would easily be able to reach workplaces, schools, healthcare facilities, parks, shops, and other necessities without relying heavily on cars or public transport.
One of the main ideas of the 15 minute cities is to create closer communities, where people have more social interaction and they can support their local businesses. For a lot of residents, they need to travel long distances to go to grocery stores or to work, and have very little time to meet and talk to their neighbours. By not having to commute, a large amount of your time would be free to interact with your community and spend time with friends and family.
However, creating the 15-minute city model poses a number of challenges. Planning and infrastructure development would need a lot of investment. It is not simple or cheap to provide essential services to every neighbourhood. Some experts have argued that neighbourhoods would have to be much denser for the plan to work. A lot of people prefer to live in large open spaces rather than apartments or houses that are built close together. One major concern for the project is about controlling the habits of residents. Some critics argue that the 15 minute city would control people’s choices and take away their freedoms from being able to move around to other parts of their city freely.
Currently, 15 minute cities are only being tested to see if they can be built without costing too much money and resources. Time will tell if they are successful in changing neighbourhoods, which could be a much better way of life for its residents and the future to come.
1. What are 15 minute cities?
2. What do some critics say about the project?
3. What is one of the main ideas of the project?
1. A neighbourhood where everything you need is only a 15 minute walk or bike ride from essential services.
2. The project will be too costly, need to be denser, and could take away some people's freedoms.
3. To create better and stronger communities.
1. What do you think about '15 minute cities'? Are they a good or bad idea?
2.What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a 15 minute city? Can you see any problems that may happen with living in a 15 minute city?
3. What are the problems of living in your neighbourhood?
4. Would you want to live in a 15 minute city? Why or why not?
-
Commute: The regular journey between home and work or school.
-
Concept: An abstract idea or general notion.
-
Essential Services: Fundamental services necessary for the well-being of a community.
-
Reinventing: Creating something new or changing to improve.
-
Congestion: Traffic or crowding causing obstruction.
-
Social Interaction: Communication and engagement with others.
-
Dense: Having parts closely packed together, often referring to population or objects.
-